Fuel-charged volatilizer



1. B. MORIN.

FUEL cHARGfD voLATlLlzER. APPL'ICATION Fl'LED DEC. I5, 1915.

1,371,705, Patent/ed Mar. 15, 192i.

. w i 1m IJ/m/ A607172/ UNITED STATES PATENTV OFFICE.

JOHN B. MORIN, 0F OAK SPARK, ILLINOIS.

FUEL-CHARGED VOLAIILIZER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

Application fue@ :December 15, 17,915. serial no. 66,919.

T o all w hom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN l3.-MoRIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oak Park, in the county of Cook and State of ceptacle, the heater element being a sheet metal shell providing a combustion chamber with side openings, having its bottom flooded with paraffin from which protrudes a central wick, and the materialA receptacle being a sheet metal cup containing a measured charge of the fumigating material, such as paraformaldehyde, and superposed upon the heater element to close the top thereof.

A valuable feature of these commercialde-j,V

sembled for shipment. Y

vices is such cheapness of construction as makes it feasible to throw away the fumigator after a single use. While features of my invention hereinafter claimed are applicable to self-heating volatilizers for other uses, I will particularly describe my invention in an embodiment appropriate for such an inexpensive fumigator. Y

Among the objects of my invention are to provide aY fuel-charged volatilizer that will extinguish itself upon the material receptacle going dry; that will burn with-al delicate, uniform, well controlled flame, affording a heat of such localization andintensity as to volatilize the contents of the material receptacle very rapidly with low fuel expenditure, without surface burning of the fuel, and with `minimum fire risk; that is easily ignited, easy to extinguishif intentional extinguishment is desired; that requires no water-bath to prevent undue transmission of heat 'to the Hoor or other support for the burner and that is improved in general and in detail in construction and mode of operation. Other objects of my invention are to make provision to minimize smoke, and the soot deposit, incident to the operation of the burner; to present the paraformaldehyde in most available form for efficient volatilization and to maintain throughout the mechanical structure such capacity for construction in cheap form as 'will preserve the advantage of availability for purposes of single use.

' Inthe drawing I have illustrated my invention'asV embodied' ina fumigator of a specific form'and proportions which I have -*commerciallymarketed and found to be satisfactory, and forsimplicity I will confine thel description of my invention to this parl ticular utilization thereof; but it will be apparent that without change of form, (with only the omission of the paraformaldehyde),

in size or design to suit special requirements,

' my invention may be embodied in any form of self-heating volatilizer, such for instance, as van emergency, self-heating, cookor with the materiali-cup and heaterchanged ing utensil for the use of travelers, campers,

v soldiers and others.

In the drawing- Y Y Figure 1 1s a vertlcal cross sectional View showing in full size one of the commercial Vsizes in' which I have embodied my invention, the parts being assembled for use.

F 1g; 2 is a similar view with the parts asfuel body 13 may be relatively thin and wide spread and may be located adequatelyv vclose to the plane of heat application tothe fire sheet orbottom 14 of cup V11, and may be quickly iniuenced by the change in heat conditions due tothe dryingV out of the ma- A Vterlal receptacle. F or lconvenience in manu-l facture, and cheapness in cost, I preferably form the burner element in two pieces. The

upper section 10a of the burner I preferably make of two diameters,to provide the cup supporting ring or rim 15 and the larger lower ring 16, united by the horizontaluannulus o-r shouldervl?. The bottom member 10b, I make withran upturned side flange 18, preferably of suitable depth to contain the fuel b ody, said flange being slippedinto the lower ring 16 of the part 10"L and stopped in its intended position by small'nodes or projections `19 (Fig. 4l) struck inward in wall 16. The Vtwo parts may be soldered together or not, as preferred. Above the level of these nodes in the lower ring 15 I provide orifices 20, and in the cup carrying rim 15 I likewise provide orifices 21, these orifices in both instances, preferably being regularly lspaced holes, preferably of approximately the area necessary, jointly, for supportof` normal combustion so that alir supply is restricted to about the normal combustion requirements. `Tl1e lower orifices 20 mainly admit `air to support combustion, and the upper orifices usefully give escape to `products of combustion, so` that there may bea tendency to local air circulation near the perimeter of the burner, in burning of the device,` the air `finding ingress .below the shoulder 17 and exit abovefits level. `Among other advantages, this arrangement, I believe,tends to prevent wide-spread burning over the whole fuel surface, on account Vof the inward-draft effect-adjacentto the surface of the fuel.

Thewick structure I preferably provide in such form as to afford a long, narrow, noncentral flame area and preferably I make provision for the introduction of air `within the boundaries of theflame area. `In

edgeportiom is `preferably of large diameter to give, circularly, a long narrow flame area.

`Thewick-is preferably positioned around a central boss 26 formed upwardly `in the center of bottom 27 of the member 101%, and is in effect clamped between :the ring 25 and boss 26, said boss `preferably having a central orifice 28 surrounded by a horizontal an* nular lip 29. This orifice 28 gives a desirableair ingress within the flame area that tends', I` believe, .toassist combustion, to

facilitate flame kspread along thelwick when the tip is ignited, and to aid in giving a desirable, lampflike quality to the flame.

` 'Io insurefreepassage of theair through theorifice 28, I depress small feet 30 at suitable points on the `bottom of member l0, so that when the `burner is stood; on `a flat `surface there is an fairpassage beneath its bottom. f

The fuel may be any suitable, normallysolid hydrocarbon having a relatively flow flashing-point, it being `my preference to use a paraffin base with which is -admi-Xed a body of wax-having a lower component of carbon than the paraffin, so as to minimize smoking. I find in practice that a fuel consisting of per cent. parain and 25 per chamber.

sults; substantially smokeless and yet economical.

For performance of its primary function `the cup 11 is simply a suitable container to fit closely in the top of ring 15, so as to close tightly thef top of the ,y combustion For commercial practice, however, I prefer that Vthe cup shall be suitably constructed to receive within itV the burner itself, in'packaging the apparatus for shipment `and shall bel adapted to' receive Vwater in addition to the paraformaldehyde in use.

To this latter end the cup 11 consists of a closed bottom portion 11a to interlit snugly in the top of the heater rim 14 until stopped by the` shoulder 32, thelower portion 'of the cup containing a suitable body 38, of paraformaldehyde, tol be volatilized. The cup above theV fumigating body is of suitable depth and shape to receive within it, preferably in inverted position, the heater ele- 1 ment as shown in Fig. 2. Thus the cup is made deep,- with a top ring 3l slightly larger than `the maximum diameterof the heater, and the upper and lower zones are con* nected byla tapering wall 35.

For protection of the paraffin pending use, the material container is sealed above said paraffin. To this end I preferably emtentional removal of the paper. Thisvform of construction is valuable in thatpractically the entire matter foreign to the paraformaldehyde is removed `when the disk 36 is stripped off, whereas if a mere paraffin or wax coatingis flooded `on the paraformaldehyde, it becomes, in the operation of the device, a needless foreign element to be volatilized, tending to smoke, sputter, and otherwise detract from the perfect operationof the fumigator.

The cover 12 that is associated with the structure is preferably of a size and shape to telescope its side wall 39 neatly around the wall 34 of the material cup, so that, as

Y shown in Fig. 2, the device, as prepared for shipment, presents an all-metal, closed, ex-v terior. rlhe bottom ofthe cover member preferably has a beading 40 varound its-periphery, so that, as shown in Fig. 1, when the cover is set edge Vdownward its bottom 41 is'encircled by a guarding elevation that.

projecting tip. The paraformaldehydecon- A tainer has its projecting disk 36 stripped off t'o free the paraformaldehyde, abouty an ounce of Water is added Vt0* the Yformaldehyde, to assist in producing a. moist gas, and

the cup is pressed into place over the burner,

as shown in Fig. 1. The burnerroper'ates with a very clear, delicate flame, local tothe area above the wick, and in'practice it is generally true that the flame appearsv not to reachthefire plate 14 or bottom of the material cup and that very little carbon is deposited on the part 14. These effects are probably due to, or aided by, the central introduction of air, giving -a very efficient combustion tending to prevent the fiame from concentrating into a pillar that would spread along the bottom of the material cup. Also, the air passing under the heater in reaching the central intake, tends to keep the base, on which the burner is set, cool, and it does not heat up seriously in practice. Very early in the operation of the device the heat melts the fuel body, but it does not ignite over its surface, therein differing from many fumigators of commercial use. The heat, properly directed and effectively distributed by the large wick, rapidly volatilizes the paraformaldehyde, and I have found the device to be very efiicient in securing a quick volatilization of the entire paraformaldehyde content with low fuel expenditure. i

In many fumigators heretofore marketed, effort has been made to proportion the fuel nicely to the paraformaldehyde body, in order that the burner might burn out by fuel-exhaustion just about the time that the formaldehyde was fully volatilized. The difficulty of so doing under the variant conditions to be met With in practice is obvious and failure to volatilize the Whole body is of frequent occurrence inpractice. On the other hand, with prior devices, if the fuel content be increased, and the volatilization is completed prior to fuel exhaustion, the continued fierce burning of the device is van added fire-risk and source of needless smoke and heat. With my fumigator the fuel, which is cheap, is preferably provided considerably in excess of the maximum amount tomatically shortly after the paraformalde-- hyde charge is exhausted. To this end I have so constructed and proportioned the device that the increased. heat VWithin the burner, due to absence of volatilizable ma- --terial inthematerial `cup to carry offthe Yengendered'heat,}resultsin a `rapid vola- .tilization o'fjthe vpool of fuel', :so charging the atmosphere Within the' burner with coinbustible Vvapor,;that, Aat acritical point,-

reached in practice a few. minutes after the material cup has gone dry, the burner ,will Y be subject toV a miniature gentle explosion,

vevidenced 4by a slight puffin'gsound andaY sudden'fiash of flame-spread Within the con#` V75 lines of the burner, resulting in its self extinguishment. r It is to; procure or facilitate thisaction that-I maintain the bottom of the `material cup relativelyclose-to the surface ofthe fuel, and proportion the. orifices 4for-'.80

l air ingressrather closely to the needs for normal combustion, thereby securing a minimization of the timenecessary to bring about the critical condition for.explosion after the material in the cup is exhausted, and minimizing the degreer of suddenlyenhanced combustion that Will be necessary to secure the self extinguishment.

It Will be observed that in the foregoing specification I have set forth insome parts matters of theory, With a view to disclosure of the best of my present understanding of the principles of construction and operation -of the device, but Without intent to limit my invention thereby. The factsof uniform steady burning in the presence `of the volatilizable material (itselfvolatilizing at a relatively low heat), and selfr extin-yv guishment upon exhaustion of the volatilizable material have been demonstrated Ycomprising a shell having an open top and a central bottom opening, a Wick surrounding said bottom opening, aV normally-solidified fuel body surrounding the wick, there being Y side openings Yin the shell above the fuel body level.

3. In a fumigator the combination of a burner element, a material receptacle for association with said burner element, a body of solidified paraformaldehyde in the burner element and means normally to protect said paraformaldehyde e against atmospheric laction comprising a removable layer of impervious material and a body of sealing material joining the edge of said impervious layer to the receptacle.

` 4; In a sel:1 contained volat1izer,`the oombinationof a burner comprising a shell hm1i ing suitable openings,V a body of .normally solidified fuel, und a `Wick,Ht-materiel oontainer Constructed :Eorsuperposition 'on the burner in one position and to receive 4the burner Within it in `another position," and :i cover member constructed` to receive the "burner uponit When in one position and" to eoaet Withv the receptacle in another pos-V tion, completely to inolose the burner between the said cover and said receptacle.

5. In a, self contained, portable fumigator,

constructed for single use, the combination i of a burner elementra materialreeepteole element, and a, cover-and-base. element, said receptacle element Comprisnga metelshell having a, reduced bottom and @flared open top; seidburner element oomprsing e shell of larger lower diemeterfand smaller upper diameter, openat its top to snugly receive 'the bottom of the material receptacle and contztinable7 When reversed, Within said receptacle element, and said oover .member `comprising a rimmed oep arranged-to t `receive the burner element When,l the fumigator is n use. n

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand inthe presence of tWd subscribing Witnesses.`

y JOHN B. MORIN;

In thepresence of- 4 FORE BAIN, MARY F. ALLEN. 

